Ferrari: Limit the damage in Bahrain

Scuderia Ferrari has a famous track record on the Sakhir circuit. But looking at the performance of their F 2012, there is a good chance that the reds will have difficulty playing at the forefront this weekend.

Published on 17/04/2012 à 15:32

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Since its entry into the calendar of the F1, the Bahrain Grand Prix has been contested seven times. Of these seven races, four were won by Ferrari (Schumi in 2004, Massa in 2007-2008 and Alonso in 2010) and two additional editions were hung by the Spaniard when he was at Renault. However, the Team is a far cry from its previous performances. Suffering from a top speed problem and a lack of traction, the ultra-fast Bahrain circuit may well cause them problems as was the case in Shanghai.

“We knew we were going to have problems in Shanghai and Sakhir”, explains Stefano Domenicali. “We are obviously unhappy with our performance. I think we should be able to put Alonso in the top 5 and Massa in the points. But in racing, when we are in traffic, our lack of top speed does not advantage us in overtaking. We waste a considerable amount of time every time. We will have to limit the damage like in China, because we have no improvement for this GP. Tire management will surely be key in this race. »

After China, the Domenicali-Fry duo still went to Maranello once again this week to accelerate and keep an eye on the development of the F 2012. Improvements are to be expected for the return of F1 to Europe from May 11 in Barcelona.

Discover the analysis of the Chinese Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the new issue of AUTOhebdo, available today in digital version on iPad and tomorrow on newsstands.